Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school I'm having a giftie moment

DS just got diagnosed with... get this...

An "Insignificant expressive language delay"

Wait for it:

They recommended treatment.



Am I pushing on the wrong side of the door or what? What do I DO with THAT? I totally don't want to subject him to the treatment, just the assessment got DS pulling some of my old tricks on the assessors. They were a little shocked by his receptive language skills, and were a bit confused about how to answer the question I raised about lowering the level of my speech to him _below_ the level of his comprehension in order to help him learn language. But they admitted it might be a problem.

Did I mention that they wouldn't even give me a clear answer about what the treatment would consist of? (beyond that they would be telling me to "make eye contact, use no sentance over 3 words, and hold toys up near your mouth while you talk"

Ok, I'm making it sound worse than it was. A bit.
But.
Uh.

Hello: "Insignificant" ?

I'm sure there's something I do that causes these things to happen............... Gah!

-Mich

Sorry, I don't really follow your message.


I think you mean that his receptive language is greater than what would be expected and that his expressive language appears to be delayed? Is that right?

How old is he? How well does he speak? Have you noticed that something isn't quite right?

When the doctor said "insignificant," could he have made a bad word choice (e.g. could the problem be "minor?")?

Here's what the Wikipedia says about language delay:


(Re: giftie moment. Sometimes it helps to take a big deep breath and ignore the problem for a while. Come back to it in the morning or on Friday and you might feel better able to think things through)

Val

His receptive language is very very above age ranges, his expressive _language_ actually is too, HOWEVER, he has less than the expected number of "regular" words... words he uses every day.

"Expressive language delay" is a technical term, but you're correct, it's a misnomer, it is usually used to mean "speech delay," as it is being used here. It SHOULD be used more accurately, and I don't know where in the chain things go awry, but most of the published studies also misuse it. It's slightly muddy in that signs are counted towards speech.

I have noticed that his development is unusual, but I don't think anything is wrong. Interestingly, a lot of people on here have noted similar patterns with their kids, but more importantly, his pattern is similar to mine, but less abnormal.

He's 1.5. My understanding is that variability at this age is so great that it's not actually a good idea to assess yet, but our dr made us do it, and the SLP (who assessed) apparently thinks it's fine, too. We got a little railroaded, orriginally we were told the waiting list was 6-8 mos, but then we got an appt in 8 weeks... so we thought we were agreeing to an assessment at 2 yrs, and got one at 19 mos.

Added: based on my understanding of the research, his delay is probably _statistically_ insignificant. That is; his scoring on this exact metric is below average, but kids with similar scores do not score significantly differently from kids with normal 18mo scores at 3 yrs. (which is what I thought, but I wasn't sure I was counting correctly)

-Mich.
clear as mud?

First of all, I am so sorry for your disappointing experience with the evaluator. It is very aggravating to get a diagnosis from someone who can't answer what would seem to be very simple questions that you'd think an "expert" could answer. It is not a good feeling to seemingly know more than them when you are still looking for anwers.

My DS5.5 has very high receptive language skills, but has expressive language disorder (non-spectrum). The best advice I can give is to make sure that the speech therapist can think outside the box in motivating your child and making his learning fun. Ours started having my DS earn short, one minute breaks with something of his choice in her room with which to play. Also make sure that the SLP is also a CAPD expert. They use a lot of the same tools and have a better understanding than a regular SLP with no specialties. ELD needs therapy and the sooner the better. Early intervention is key to success, more importantly the child's confidence.

How old is your DS? I have a few posts on here about ELD. Search expressive language delay or just some of my posts (please ignore the neurotic ones;). The deal is that ELD kids don't have the files in their heads from which to pull their thoughts to voice - other kids do. The SLP will start by helping kids split words into categories in their heads (animals, kitchen utensils, community people,...); and as the words and language progress they will move onto helping them with proper grammar, functional language like holding conversations, being able to ask questions (with the correct word order),... Grammar is a big thing. Having my DS at home has really helped because I have him correct his language. I am always positive with him though. We have a handle on things now and DS is progressing wonderfully. His being able to read has helped a lot, although he is very visual spatial (having over 1500 sight words, and has just in the past several months felt more comfortable with phonetics). It is really helpful being able to see/feel/say words to make connections. When I read to him, I always point at the words I read. When he reads, I make him repeat the word that he doesn't know 3xs in a row; and he has it (strange, but it works). Homeschooling cut down on my stress a lot; although I fought it avidly. It is difficult having an advanced-academically child who cannot express his thoughts. It was very frustrating for him - not being able to express what he'd prefer to do, and that he was bored; and he was very misunderstood by his preschool treachers. And he is not one to go sit and read in a corner. PM me if you'd like. Hope that some of this helps. There is not a lot out there about just ELD without ReceptiveLD thrown in.

Peace to you!

Just read your child's age, as my typing took a long time. How many words is your DS saying? That is a hard diagnosis at 19 months??

Just as an FYI, I am taking back my advice to you with my not knowing his age. If it turns out to be accurate, you may take or leave my advice.:) I will leave it in case anyone else with ELD does a search.

At 18 months, we knew that something was up with my DS because he knew his alphabet, numbers to 20+, colors, shapes,...by pointing, but wasn't saying a whole lot; so we had him evaluated. We were told not to worry; but he was still not willing to ask for things, although he was pointing and getting really aggravated. Just keep an eye on him; and good luck.:)

The SLP's count (based on my list, I just wasn't sure what should be counted -- she counted the english words, not the onomatopoeic ones, and all signs ASL and non-asl) was "about 40" Normal is 50.

<throws hands up in despair>

Even taking my count, which was 18-20, just the english words, and maybe some of the more "wordy" onomatopoeic ones still sounds like it would be "safe." <8 is a number used in a some studies as a cut-off.

I don't even know why we're in this mess, the DR just got futzed about a number on a milestone chart, and now everyone is insane.

-Mich

(He does know colours, about 6 planets, what a rainbow rasp-fish is, and stuff like that by pointing... There is a really big disparity between his receptive and his expressive. I suppose his "Delay" might look more significant scaled to his receptive language rather than to his age, but.... I'm not ready to reduce his life to three word sentances for THAT)

Stressing about it will not help you; but like most people here will tell you, trust your Mommy-gut.

Just in case, I would ask around for references of good SLP's. When I started asking, even those using an SLP wouldn't recommend theirs! I was so fortunate to have found one finally, after a few "misses."

I would wait until 2 to have him tested again. He may pick up a lot more in the next few months; but in my opinion he should be speaking more than a few clearly, especially if he is advanced otherwise. I am not an expert; so please take my advice with a grain of salt. Good luck!

Just read your 3-word sentences comment. We never spoke baby-talk to our son. I never understood the reasoning of "dumbing-down" our language when he understood completely what we were telling him; but now I understand that we needed to give him simple words in simple sentences to say because they were easier for him to access in his head. Giving him the words to say is important, as well as giving him the chance to try to get it out. We had to force DS to say things. He said our names and a few other things, but refused to say more. He used ASL for "more" a lot. He got so angry with us at times when he wanted to be picked up - we made him say "up." Signing it didn't count. We never made him ask for food or drink however, but still gave him the words to say it and its sound. If he can hold a letter "a" in his hand (like a puzzle piece), the feeling of it creates another tie in his filing system while getting him to say it. If you don't want to go to an SLP now, go through the letter sound list per age to help him with the sounds:

http://www.abramslearningtrends.com/Downloads/whitepapers/pdfs/089551.pdf There is a more succinct list elsewhere I'm sure; but this is accurate.

The 3x thing is also helpful for some reason as well (ball ball ball). We didn't use it when he was younger because no one explained it to us then; but I see now, having a better understanding of ELD, how it could have helped - and it helps now, like I said before, with his reading.

Good grief. I'm glad we didn't meet your SLP! DS didn't have any regularly used words at that age (maybe we might have mustered 5, with signs and generous interpretation?) - but, like yours, understood everything, knew lots, could read a bit, etc. I'd be asking them for research evidence that the specific treatment they plan to offer will benefit him long-term - totally reasonable request, sounds as though they won't be able to meet it. I guess you're right that it's the difference between his receptive and his expressive abilities that's got them concerned, but I'm not sure what the argument would be that it's a problem. I think if you suddenly start using 3 word sentences to him he'll worry about what's happening to your language!

My son had delayed speech...he only had 20 words at age 24 months. At that time, speech therapy was recommended but my son made NO progress with just ST. After 6 months, we got a more accurate dx of autism (instead of just speech delay) and the ABA therapy used for that got him speaking...he took off like a runaway train! Within 2 months, he went from 20 words to 5 word sentences...it was incredible even to the therapists.

Obviously, your child does not have the significant delay my son did, but the appropriate therapy works wonders. And starting early is the key!

We didn't agree with the original diagnosis of "speech delay" but accepted it because it seemed harmless...the experts must know what they are talking about. It took us 6 months of prime developmental time to realize the "experts" were wrong and we had to find the correct name for the problem in order to get the correct therapy.

It took a couple more years for DS to be labelled exceptionallly gifted, but that's another story ha ha!

Thinking of you in your diagnostic and therapeutic efforts, Nan